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Demona
Demona is an immortal gargoyle who was once a member of the Wyvern Clan, and one of the co-conspirators in what became the Wyvern massacre. Blaming humans for her misfortunes, she has spent the last thousand years seeking to exterminate them. She is now one of the Manhattan Clan's greatest enemies, and possibly the most dangerous gargoyle in the world. Appearance Physically, Demona is a female gargoyle with a shock of red hair and pale blue skin. She is usually armed with either a mace, a particle beam cannon, or both. Her human form is that of a pale-skinned red-haired, green-eyed woman, with a striking resemblance to her gargoyle form (close enough, in fact, that the musculoskeletal structure of her human head and her gargoyle head are virtually identical, according to a computer program belonging to Robyn Canmore). As Dominique, she also keeps her fingernails trimmed to long, sharp points, giving her a slightly off-putting appearance as if she's not all human. Like all female gargoyles, her eyes glow red when she is angered; however, even as a human, Puck's spell of transformation may glitch and her eyes will glow if she gets angry enough."In High Noon Demona's eyes glowed while she was in human form, was that intentional?" She usually wears a gold tiara, a pair of earrings, an armband and an anklet as decorative jewelry. She also seems to favor midriff-baring halter tops that hang off of one shoulder. History 10th century Demona was hatched in the year 938. By 971, she was Goliath's mate and a respected member of their clan. Like the rest of the clan, Demona originally had no formal name, though Goliath frequently referred to her as his "Angel of the Night". However, the young Demona had already begun to develop the weaknesses that would lead her down a dark path to come. Showing a strong interest in magic, she secretly entered into the Archmage's service as his apprentice, in which role she served largely as a servant and errand-runner. The Archmage treated her harshly, but she was able to develope an aptitude in sorcery through his teachings. He also taught her to read, and she in turn taught Goliath. In 975, the Archmage commanded her to steal the Phoenix Gate from Princess Elena. Just after Demona stole the Gate, an older version of herself appeared with a duplicate Phoenix Gate, and whisked them both away to the year 994, accompanied by an older version of Goliath (both from the year 1995). There, the older Demona showed the younger one the aftermath of the Wyvern Massacre and Goliath's petrified form on the battlements, urging her to use the Phoenix Gate to avert this disaster and destroy the humans. The younger Demona was horrified at her future self's coldness and callousness, and refused to become like her, but was also disturbed at what she had seen. The Goliath from the future did what he could to comfort her, urging her to not worry about this catastrophe but to remain true to her love. The younger Demona then returned herself and the two time travelers to 975, where she hid the Phoenix Gate from the Archmage, pretending that she had lost it. The Archmage, furious, cast her off as his apprentice then and there. Afterward, Demona and Goliath attended Prince Malcolm's wedding; she broke the Phoenix Gate in half there, giving one half of it to him as a token of her love, while keeping the other half for the same purpose. ("Vows") As Demona aged, she became one of the greatest warriors of her Clan, protecting the humans of the Castle but remaining troubled over the vision of the future she saw and becoming more and more angry by the humans' treatment of her and her kind. In 984, her former teacher the Archmage tried to take over Wyvern but was defeated. In a last attempt to kill Prince Malcolm, the human leader at the time, the Archmage shot him with a poisonous dart which only a spell from the Grimorum Arcanorum could cure. The Clan's leader, known later as Hudson, was entrusted to bring back the book and he decided to take Goliath, by this point the Clan's second-in-command, and Demona with him. Together they tracked the Archmage to a cave and were able to retrieve the book and return it to Castle Wyvern, saving Prince Malcolm's life. Demona expressed many misgivings over Hudson's advancing age and ability to lead, and it was this and Hudson's own feelings on the matter that convinced Hudson to step down and allow Goliath to lead. ("Long Way To Morning") In truth, she wanted Goliath to lead out of her own self-interest, and Goliath soon made her his second-in-command. In 987, Demona and Goliath conceived a child and the next year Demona laid the egg in the rookery of the clan among many others. The Wyvern Massacre By 994, Demona had become resentful of human prejudice toward her clan and conspired with the Captain of the Guard to betray the humans inhabiting Castle Wyvern to Hakon and his Vikings. The two urged Goliath to take the entire clan and drive the Vikings away from the castle, intending for Castle Wyvern to be captured in the gargoyles' absence at night. But Goliath, unwilling to leave the castle undefended, only took Hudson with him. The Captain, desperate to have the plan succeed, decided to have Hakon attack during the daytime instead. Demona was alarmed, knowing that in the daytime, the clan would be trapped in its stone sleep and defenseless. She dared not warn the rest of the gargoyles, however, for fear that if she did so, she might have to reveal her part in the conspiracy, and so she fled alone to hide upon the beach. She awakened that night, and returned to find her clan slaughtered by the Vikings. Horrified and grief-stricken, she hid herself when Goliath returned to the castle, too afraid to face him. By the time she returned, Goliath and five other survivors had already been put under the stone sleep curse by the Magus. Looking up at her mate's petrified form, Demona cried out, "What have I - what have they done to you?" In that moment, her mood changed from grief to anger and hatred, burying her guilt underneath her rage at the humans, blaming them for her woes so that she could avoid facing her own responsibility for her actions. She saw below Princess Katharine, the Magus, and Tom loading the rookery eggs on the cart and driving away with them, but made no effort to go after them as she was unable to "face" the eggs. Instead, she kissed the stone Goliath one last time and glided away, sending herself into exile. ("City of Stone" Part One) Thousand-year interim Demona's Clan Alone for several years, Demona had an encounter with a child named Gillecomgain, scarring his face during a petty theft. Gillecomgain became the Hunter, a mercenary and assassin seeking revenge against her and her race. Demona continued to wander about Scotland, attacking any human who got in her way and stealing food to survive. By 997, Demona was leading a scattered clan of gargoyles, the survivors of clans that had been destroyed by the humans, including Demona's Second. Learning from the lessons of the past, she arranged for the clan to sleep in different places, so if one "cell" was discovered and destroyed the rest would live on. The entire Sruighlea Cell of Demona's clan was later massacred by King Constantine and Gillecomgain. Amid their remains, Demona discovered a wanted poster left behind for Mary and Finella and discovered that they possessed the Grimorum. Shortly after, Demona was approached by a time-travelling Brooklyn who explained his presence by pretending that he avoided the Magus's curse. At Brooklyn's behest, Demona brought her scattered clan together to help Kenneth III (the Grim) battle Constantine, although she secretly planned to betray the Grim after Constantine was defeated and use the Grimorum to bring Scotland to its knees.("The Gate", "Tyrants") After Brother Valmont used the Grimorum Arcanorum to create a rain of fire arrows during the battle, Brooklyn cut Valmont's hand off to get the Grimorum back. Demona was able to seize the book and reverse his spell, if not the consequences. After Constantine was defeated, the phoenix appeared to spirit Brooklyn away. Knowing he couldn't let Demona keep the Grimorum, Brooklyn offered to hold the book for her while she reached for her half of the Phoenix Gate, letting her believe she needed it to control the Phoenix. ("Phoenix") Demona and Macbeth As the years passed, the grown-up Gillecomgain, as the Hunter, had become one of Demona's worst enemies, and a danger to all the surviving gargoyles left in Scotland as well.("City of Stone" Part One) In 1020, the Weird Sisters persuaded Demona to attack the Hunter at Castle Moray, when he went there on Prince Duncan's orders to assassinate Findlaech and Macbeth. Despite her hatred for humans, during the battle Demona chose to save a young Macbeth and Gruoch even though it meant letting Gillecomgain escape. In 1032, Macbeth and Demona faced Gillecomgain together again. This time Macbeth was able to save Demona's life and the battle ended with Gillecomgain's death. are bound by the Weird Sisters.]] Later, an elderly Demona entered into a bargain with Macbeth to defeat a common enemy - Macbeth's cousin Duncan I of Scotland. Macbeth wanted Demona's help protecting his kingdom, while Demona wanted her youth back so she could lead the last of her kind. The pact was facilitated by the Weird Sisters, who caused her and Macbeth to switch ages making Macbeth 51 and Demona the gargoyle equivalent of 35, the age that Macbeth was then. In so doing, they also made them both unaging and immortal, only able to die if one slew the other - something the sisters conveniently forgot to mention at the time. 's adviser.]] Macbeth himself soon came to admire Demona's combat prowess, and eventually became heavily dependent on Demona's clan for support in the war with Duncan's forces. In the final battle with Duncan, Demona's devastating attacks so impressed Macbeth, he exclaimed "You fight like a demon!" After becoming king, Macbeth called her "Demona" (She-Demon) for the first time, a name she found very pleasing, and simultaneously declared her to be his primary adviser. The two became fast friends. Eventually, Demona's trust in Macbeth evaporated after overhearing Macbeth considering on betraying her to win the support of the English. Fearing that this would come to pass, she abandoned his forces to Duncan's son Canmore and the English armies. Canmore, in turn, betrayed her, killing the last of her clan. Demona was alone once again, the last gargoyle alive in Scotland, and eventually she fled for other parts of the world. Demona would not enter into another alliance with a human for almost a thousand years. During the intervening time, she amassed a substantial fortune and plotted her revenge on humanity, all the while being pursued both by Macbeth (who first hunted her to seek revenge and later simply to end his long life) and by a new line of Hunters descended from Canmore, who had somehow learned of her survival and chosen to hunt her down. Growing increasingly bitter towards humans, she finally decided that she must destroy them all, partly as the only means of ensuring survival for herself and what little remained of her race, partly as a means of gaining her revenge. 20th century Some time before 1994, Demona allied herself with David Xanatos, got him the Grimorum Arcanorum, and told him about the spell put upon the Gargoyles at Castle Wyvern. This led Xanatos to bringing the castle to Manhattan and waking up Goliath and the rest of the clan. Despite her and Xanatos's efforts to manipulate them, the clan refused to join her vendetta and actively opposed her. She later assisted Xanatos in resurrecting one of the dead Gargoyles from Wyvern, Coldstone. During one of her attempts to murder Elisa Maza, Demona was granted a "gift" by the magical being, Puck: after requesting that he make her able to walk in daylight without turning to stone, he grants her wish, but at a price. While a gargoyle at night, during the day, Demona would become the very thing she despised: a human. The transformation is incredibly painful and it hurt Macbeth when he was in proximity as part of their binding spell. Though initially furious at Puck's trick, she realized the positive uses of her human form as she later took up the alias of Dominique Destine.  She has also tried to exterminate humanity on numerous occasions; first by turning New York City's human population into Gargoyles, and when failing that, she tried turning them to stone at night so that she could smash them at her leisure. This curse was foiled, not only by an alliance between Goliath and Xanatos (thus ending her alliance with him), but also the unexpected intervention of first Macbeth, and then the Weird Sisters.("City of Stone" Parts One, Two, Three, and Four) The Sisters took Demona and Macbeth away with them, putting them into a trance and using them as extra reinforcements as part of their plot to takeover Avalon with the Archmage. When the Archmage and the Sisters were defeated, they were sent back into the outside world by the Avalon Clan with no recollection of this event. As Dominique Destine Avalon brought Demona and Macbeth to Paris, where Demona met and became infatuated with with Goliath's clone Thailog. Using the immense fortune and resources that she acquired over the years, she and Thailog founded a company called Nightstone Unlimited with herself as its CEO under the alter ego of Dominique Destine. She used the company to further her goals where she couldn't as a Gargoyle, and conspired to first steal Macbeth's fortune and, when failing that, create their own version of the Manhattan Clan through cloning. Sometime after returning to New York with Thailog, Demona learned from Sevarius that Angela was her biological daughter. She did all that she could to convince to join her, without success. Demona, Thailog, and the Clones then captured the clan, but when Thailog tried to kill Angela, Demona discovered that she had come to care about her daughter and turned on Thailog, freeing the Gargoyles and telling Goliath to save their daughter. ("The Reckoning") Not long afterward, Demona employed Sevarius to create the CV-1000 Carrier Virus and set Operation Clean Slate into motion. On the night of the Hunter's Moon, she used the Fulfillment Spell engraved on the Medici Tablet to merge the carrier virus with a case of D/I-7 detergent that she had stolen from Xanatos, creating a powerful plague designed to destroy all intelligent life on the planet, and invoking the Praying Gargoyle's magic to protect gargoyles from it. Fortunately, when Demona revealed her plan, Goliath intervened at the last moment and destroyed the Praying Gargoyle, forcing Demona to abandon her plan. She managed to escape, however. ("Hunter's Moon" Parts One, Two, and Three) Future ".]]Despite the foiling of her scheme, Greg Weisman has stated that Demona will continue to plot the destruction of humanity with considerable bitterness and attempt to alter the clan to suit her vision of what it should be like. Angela will continue to try (presumably unsuccessfully) to turn Demona from her destructive course. When the Space-Spawn invade Earth in 2198, however, Demona is faced with an even greater enemy to her kind than humans, and so accepts Samson's invitation to join the Resistance, making use of her assets (such as her knowledge of magic and her ability to turn into a human in the daytime). However, Demona is uncertain as to whether she will be able to fight on the side of the angels for long. The rest of the Resistance distrusts her as well, and initially she does not get along well with anyone. This may be her last chance at redemption... or her final opportunity to annihilate the human race.Gargoyles 2198 At some point in the war against the Space-Spawn, Demona will join Nokkar, Zafiro, LXM-1057, and Guardian by going into outer space to hit the Space-Spawn in their own home. Demona would potentially look like the Demona of "Future Tense". Greg Weisman has also hinted that eventually she will indeed have an epiphany, learn that she was responsible for her own misery and suffering, and undergo some sort of change of heart and/or possibly go a little mad. He has also said that she will have two more great loves, but their identities are as yet unknown. Personality First and foremost, Demona is her own worst enemy. She has spent a thousand years alone, and that loneliness was a huge factor in creating the present day Demona. It has affected her to the point where, for a multitude of reasons, she even chose "ALONE" to be her access code during the climax of "City of Stone" Part Four. At present, Demona continues to bitterly hate humans and wants the entire species destroyed, despite the fact that she fully turns into one during the day (a gift from which she has received no insight). But she hates some humans more than others, such as the Hunters, Macbeth, and especially Elisa Maza. Demona's hatred of humanity is still fueled in part by her repressed guilt. She knows deep down inside that she is responsible in part for the Wyvern Massacre, but is unwilling to consciously admit it, and perforce makes the human race her scapegoat, to avoid facing the blood on her hands. Unlike Macbeth, she does not want to die. She possesses one "gift" that renders her death impossible: a stellar sense of self-deception. Nothing's ever ''her fault. Nothing's ''ever ''going to stop her. ''No one is worth sacrificing herself for. (It's not true, but she believes it.) She also continues to have a strong craving for power, hoping that when she destroys humanity and gargoyles subsequently rule the world, she will rule over them. In fact, the human name she chose for herself, Dominique Destine, stands for divine destiny. The Archmage taught her an appreciation of power, but it's doubtful she'd acknowledge that influence. Demona is also very mono-focused on her goals. She has no hobbies or interests, and focuses her efforts on research, study, practicing her sorcery, making investments, and other steps toward her goal. S8 question 1826 As she escaped growing old, she doesn't understand aging anymore than Xanatos understands true immortality and thus has no patience for it. She even belittled Hudson for his age. As far as a gargoyle's religious beliefs are concerned, Demona is "probably lapsed - or at least inattentive." She also didn't consider it a priority to hold a Wind Ceremony for the massacred Sruighlea Cell, opting instead for vengeance on the humans. Relationships Angela The one general exception to hatred in her heart at present is Angela, whom she has strong maternal feelings for, but which as yet have not been enough to turn her from her path. Even the biological connection matters to Demona, although she would never admit to it, as such a thing is a human trait atypical to her species.S8 question 12341 Thailog Her relationship with Thailog had little to do with Thailog personally, and more to do with his resemblance to Goliath, the contrast in his personality, and her desire to be with someone she believed could share her worldview. Elisa Maza Out of all humans, Demona hates Elisa Maza the most. She is aware of Eliza and Golaith's mutual feelings for each other and is utterly jealous. Besides, Elisa simply does not live up to Demona's beliefs about all humans being evil, traitorous, and hostile towards gargoyles, and that worries her even more. Goliath 1000 years ago, Demona and Goliath were loving mates. However, even when they were together, she was somewhat deceitful and manipulative to him. Her choices leading to the massacre were based on the love she had for him and her clan, and she was devastated when she found him under the magus' curse. Upon his awakening, she initially hoped to convince Goliath to help her destroy the human race. When he refused, her love for Goliath turns suddenly and completely to murderous hate. Possibly, she can't believe that Goliath could ever forgive her for the massacre. She's sure he must hate her, and wants to hate him first and more to escape that pain. In addition, Goliath's continued belief that humans and gargoyles can get along seems entirely irrational to her. She is determined to oppose him at every turn in the hope that he'll eventually see that she was right. Deep down, she still loves the Goliath of her imagination, but the real thing is a disappointment to her. Of all the adversaries Goliath has had to face, she's the most deadly. Macbeth Demona once respected Macbeth, but she never completely trusted him. She currently hates him. Powers and abilities Demona is a cunning and resourceful opponent, dangerous warrior and a skilled sorceress. However, her anger and hatred have a tendency to interfere with her plans; for example, she will, in the heat of battle, make the mistake of using her laser cannon as a club rather than firing it. Also, she will often alienate her allies or betray them, thus losing their assistance permanently. This has, fortunately, resulted in Demona's efforts to destroy humanity all failing. Gargoyle Physiology: Demona holds the inherent physical abilities of a gargoyle: super-strength, durability, gliding, prolonged youth, etc. But that pales in comparison to her true strengths. Sorcery: Demona was secretly tutored by the Archmage, becoming a capable and dangerous sorceress, which enabled her to utilize almost any magical artifact that she could get her claws on, such as the Grimorum Arcanorum or Titania's Mirror. Technology Adept: Demona would also develop a fine understanding and use of science and technology in the 20th century, using high-tech equipment and weaponry where sorcery failed, one of her favorite weapons being a laser cannon. Human Form: After Puck "thanked" Demona for an interesting pasttime, she gained the power to become a Human during the day; though the transformation is very painful, it is also quick . Being the ever-deceitful demon that she is, Demona used her human form to create an alias, Dominque Destine, to become the CEO of her own company, Nightstone Unlimited, providing Demona with several advantages that her gargoyle form could not give her. Even in her human form, Demona does not see herself as a human and continues to think of herself as a gargoyle, refusing to consider the possibility that the differences between gargoyles and humans are largely superficial. She also prefers to get a few hours of sleep during the day as Dominique, rather than sleep at night (and although Puck's spell of transformation compensates somewhat, the lack of sleep still doesn't improve her mental outlook). Immortality: As part of the pact she entered with MacBeth when meeting the Weird Sisters, Demona not only gained her prime body, but became immortal and eternal; she does not age and will soon revive if she is killed. The only way for Demona to die permanently is if MacBeth kills her or if she kills him. Since the spell linked them both together, both feel each other's pain when in close proximity, and both of them will die permanently if one kills the other, temporarily if someone else kills one of them. Manipulation: Probably Demona's most dangerous weapon is her mind, as she can fabricate ingenious plans, back-up plans, all deceitful and self-serving, and she is also a skilled manipulator. Gallery GoliathandAngel.jpg|Goliath and "Angel". gg511021.jpg|Demona and Macbeth fight as Goliath steps in a window. DemonaForehead.JPG|Demona without her tiara. HumanDemonaEyesGlow.png|A glitch in Puck's spell. demnice.jpg|Demona with cloaked wings. DemonaDominique.png|Demona and Dominique Destine's musculoskeletal structure. Demona_Human_FP.jpg|Human Demona. Production sketch by Frank Paur. DominiqueParis.png Dominique.png DemonaMacbeth.png Demona3.gif Trivia * Demona evolved from a gargoyle in the comedy development named Georgette. Though she wasn't the leader, Georgette was good at coming up with workable plans and pulling the other gargoyles tails out of the fire. Georgette was later promoted to leader and renamed "Dakota." She was smart and fearless, but ultimately a little too intense for a comedy series. In the final comedy development pitch, she was renamed "DeMona" and became the only gargoyle to side with the series' main villain. She survived into the final action-drama pitch as essentially the same character. * In the original pitch for the series, the initial leader of the gargoyle clan was Dakota, but it was later decided she would work best as a villain and thus her name was changed to Demona.WonderCon: Greg Weisman Spotlight Panel * Demona is one of several characters played by a Star Trek cast member. In this case, Marina Sirtis who portrayed Deanna Troi. * Other names suggested for Demona when Gary Krisel felt the name "Demona" was too on the nose were Angelica, Carve, Dagger, Shale, Slate, Malachite, Anthracite, Gelignite, Javelin, Fury, and Electra. "Angelica" was almost an alias for Demona in the pilot and then again in "Sanctuary" for her human name before settling on Dominique Destine. Variations such as "Angel", "Angelique" and even "Dierdre" were considered. * Greg Weisman and Marina Sirtis both have different stories on how the latter was cast in the role. According to Weisman, Sirtis was the first actor to read for Demona and she nailed it right then and there. Marina, on the other hand claims that she had to read and audition for the role several times before it was given to her. * At CONvergence 2014, when asked by Gargoyles fan, Mara Cordova, about how she approached the role of Demona, Marina Sirtis noted that one of the reasons she identifies with Demona is that she's a very "in the now" person, who doesn't really engage in worrying about the future. Demona, as Sirtis puts it, rather has to live "in the now" simply to function. Genuine, honest self-reflection on her past and future would pretty much destroy her. * Ironically, Demona's character is a lot closer to William Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth than Gruoch was. As Lady Macbeth goads her husband into killing the elderly King Duncan, and taking his throne, Demona urges Goliath to seize leadership of the clan from Hudson. Unlike the Macbeth of the play, Goliath does no such thing, however, Hudson steps down and Goliath takes his place with Demona becoming second-in-command. Adding to the irony, Demona briefly marries Macbeth in Paris. References Appearances * Enter MacBeth; The Price - mentioned only * Shadows of the Past = impersonated *''Nightwatch''; ''The Journey'' - in flashback Category:Characters Category:Gargoyles Category:Female gargoyles Category:Wyvern Clan Category:Magic-wielders Category:Immortal Category:Enemies Category:Villains Category:Humans Category:Clan leaders Category:Demona's Clan Category:Neutral characters